Base-ball-player&#39;s glove or mitt.



y E. L. ROGERS. BASE BALL PLAYERS GLOVE 0R MITT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1909.

970,754. Patented sept. 2o, 1910.

3 SHEETS-BHBBT 1.

i WTN SSES: INVENTOR; i V :FIEL EI- I I 7% By i u E. L. ROGERS.

BASE BALL PLAYERB GLOVE 0B MITT.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1909.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTORNEYJ'.

E. L. RGGERS.

BASE BALL PLAYERS GLOVE 0R MITT.

APYLIOATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1909.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WTNESSES: l i cf? 'W' UNrrnn srafrns PATENT onirica.

ELROY L. ROGERS, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

BASE-BALL-PLAYERS GLOVE OR MITT.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I ELRoY L. ROGERS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Base Ball- Players Glove or Mitt, of which the followin is a specification.

y invention relates to improvements in gloves or mitts worn by base-ball players to protect their hands and facilitate catching and holding balls, and resides more particularly in the peculiar manner in which I construct my glove or mitt so as to produce an exteriorly abrupt and sharply defined shoulder, projection or prominence on the front of the glove or mitt at or adjacent to the wrist portion, which prominence is a material and essential part of the pocket (for the ball) in the glove or mitt and forms a backing as it were for such pocket, all as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide a glove or mitt of the class described with a larger ball pocket than it has heretofore been possible or at least feasible to provide in such a glove or mitt, and to furnish such pocket with a good andsuflicient backing which may extend from the base of the little finger portion to the base of the thumb portion on the palm or front side.

A further object is to afford in a glove or mitt of this kind, in its preferred form, a better opportunity to fasten to better advantage the glove or mitt to the wrist, which it is possible to do because there is no padding in the wrist portion of said glove or mitt, that is to say, in the wrist portion that is directly involved in the fastening operating and directly instrumental in holding the glove or mitt in place after being fastened. It may be noted here, also, that theV glove or mitt is so constructed that the padding cannot work loose, flatten down, or spread out into the aforesaid wrist port-ion.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages above pointed out by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a glove f which embodies my invention in a practical.

and what I deem to be preferred form; Fig. 2, a section on lines 2-2, looking in the direction of the arrow, in Fig. l; Fig. 3, an interior View of a portion of the outer integ- Specifcaton of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 17, 1909.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

serial No. 518,127.

ument of the glove illustrated in the two preceding views, such view showing such integument developed or iattened so as to illustrate more clearly the construction of this part of theglove; Fig. 4, a perspective View of a glove embodying a modified form of said invention; Fig. 5, a section on lines 5 5, looking in the direction of the arrow, in Fig. 4, and, Fig. 6, a front side or palm view of a mitt having incorporated therewith the same forni of the invention .disclosed in the first three views.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

It will be seen upon examination of the drawings that the general aspect of either glove or the mitt therein appearing differs from that of the ordinary glove or mitt in at least two important and essential particulars: In the first place, the glove in either case or the mitt has a pocket 1 in its front or palm portion, which pocket is unusually large and deep; and, in the second place, in

each example the gl'ove or mitt is provided' with a high, plainly marked, and wellpadded ridge or prominence 3 that sweeps around from the base of the little finger 4 on either glove, or from a posit-ion on the mitt which corresponds to such base, to the base of the thumb G to form a backing for said pocket. Vhile the prominence 3 has a generally concave interior as said prominence rounds over and downward or inward to assist in forming the pocket 1, its exterior is approximately straight up and down, when the glove or mitt is lying palm up as shown in all of the general views, but this approximately straight side is plain or nearly so in one direction only since the side necessarily curves in the other direction, that is, longitudinally. This manner of making the high 'and exteriorly abrupt prominence 8 is necessary in order to obtain the desired backing of and for the pocket l by proper padding located at the right place, as will appear more clearly hereinafter.

The glove as a whole comprises an outer integument or covering 7 and an inner integument or lining 8, with filling, stuffing or padding 9 between the two, being like an ordinary glove to this extent, and the mitt is made up of similar elements. The prominence 3 is made by separating the palm portion of said covering, between the thumb and little finger or corresponding parts, from the corresponding and similarly located portion of said lining, and bridging to close the resulting gap and maintain the aforesaid portion of the covering in its separated relation to the aforesaid portion of the lining with a connecting and supporting heel piece 10 which is angularly arranged relative to the general flatwise plane of the glove or mitt, with the assistance of the padding 9 within. Said padding` is so arranged within the pocket (not the pocket 1) formed in part in the manner and of the elements just described that it is higher or thicker at the prominence 3 than elsewhere, as is plainly to be seen in the drawings. From the prominence 3 the padding spreads out and is shaped more or less like a saucer, giving the same form to the glove or mitt and so producing the pocket 1. The pocket 1 is large and deep and has the prominence 3 for one of its walls, such prominence being situated Where it is most needed and serves to the best purpose. llt is now apparent that with this glove or mitt a person can catch a ball with less difficulty and effort and great-er certainty than with a glove or mitt having a smaller, shallow pocket, and not provided with the prominence.

Various means may be resorted to in the construction of my glove or mitt specifically, two of which l have shown and will neXt describe.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6, it will be observed that'a gap 11 is formed in the palm portion of the covering 7, by cutting a slit in such portion between the bases of the thumb and little finger 6 and 4, respectively, of the glove, or between corresponding points in the mitt covering, and spreading apart the edges of such slit. The gap 11 thus formed, and as bes't shown in Fig. 3, is prevented from closing and at the same time bridged or covered by the heel piece 10. The heel piece 10 is sewed or stitched adjacent to its upper edge, at 12, to the covering 7 adjacent 'to the upper edge of the gap 11, and said heel piece is sewed or stitched adjacent to its lower edge, at 13, to said covering adjacent to the lower edge of said gap. The upper portion of 'the heel piece 10 is attached in this manner to the outside of the covering 7 which is turned down for the purpose, and the lower part of the heel piece is similarly attached to said covering, excepting in the latter instance the heel piece is turned in so that it can be stitched readily to the upper surface of the covering at 13. A fiat wrist strip 14 is thus left which, with the usual strap 15 and fastener 16 of any desired or suitable form and construction, enables t-he glove (or mitt) to be secured to the hand, or rather to the wrist when the hand is in the glove (or mitt). The lining 8 is stitched to the wrist strip 14 close to the heel piece 10, at 17, to

prevent the wadding or padding 9 from working out from beneath said heel piece into the fia-t wrist portion of the glove or mitt, also to stiffen the parts. This glove or mitt is worn and used just like any other glove or mitt for a similar purpose, so, too, is the glove illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.

The difference between the glove last above mentioned and that already described in detail is mainly due tothe fact that in the former the wrist strip 14 is partially if not wholly omitted, and the heel piece is sewed or stitched at the bottom directly to the lining 8, as shown a't 18, in Fig. 5. Here very little if any of the palm portions at the wrist of the covering 7 and the lining 8 extends beyond the heel piece 10, while in the first example both so extend to form the aforesaid wrist strip 14. Here, too, an additional fastening strap 19, or its equivalent, is needed. The strap 19 may have one end fastened to the lining 8 under the prominence 3. The Figs. 4 and 5 glove may be transformed into a mitt by omitting the finger separations.

rlhe heel piece 10 securely holds the contiguous parts in place and bols'ters up the prominence 3, so that such parts cannot break down or get out of shape. This is true in all cases.

The backs of the gloves and mitts are not materially different from 'the backs of the gloves and mitts heretofore commonly used.

Obviously more or less change in the style or shape of my glove or mitt and changes in minor details of construction may be made without departing from the nature of my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. rThe combination, in a glove or mitt of 'the class specified, of a lining, ay covering slit and stretched apart to form a gap in its palm or front side between the bases of the thumb and little finger and opening onto said lining, a heel piece narrowed at the ends and attached to the edges of such gap to cover the opening, and padding within the space inclosed by the lining, covering and heel piece.

2. A padded glove or mitt, of the class specified, having an unpadded wrist part and having the palm or front portion of its covering, between the bases of 'the thumb and little finger and inside of the adjacent edge of said wrist portion, separated from the adjacent portion of the lining, with a heel piece arranged in angular relation 'to the fiatwise plane of said glove or mitt and connecting such separated portions of the covering and lining, the arrangement being such that a prominence is formed between the aforesaid bases of the thumb and little finger, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a glove or mitt of the class specified, of a covering having a gap in its palm or front side between the bases of the thumb and little finger, a heel piece so attached to the edges of such gap as to cover the opening and permit a part of said side of the covering to project 'to form a Wrist portion, a lining Which extends und der said Wrist portion and is attached to the same, and padding Within the space nclosed bythe covering, heel piece and lining.

ELROY L. ROGERS. Witnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS. 

